“I want you to fucking grow a pair and handle this. I told you to cut her loose. But you didn’t, did you?”
“Cole—”
“What?”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Yeah. I know. So I’m gonna make it real easy for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know how she feels about you, and yet you keep rubbing her nose in shit like this. Apparently, Misty’s a major trigger for her in a way other girls you’ve been with have never been. Not sure why the hell she’s any different.”
“Okay, I won’t bring Misty around anymore.”
“It’s gone too far for that, Brother.”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw this coming. And shit I didn’t want to see it go this far. But one of you has to go.”
“What?”
“And we all know it’s not gonna be you.”
“What the fuck are you saying?”
“Mack’s done. He’s gonna hate like hell to let her go, but he’s gonna find someone else to run the bar.”
“No. I can’t be the reason for that.”
“Mack loves Crystal. Hell, we all do. She runs that bar like a pro. Place has never been cleaner. But we can find another bar manager.”
“Cole, don’t do this. Please.”
“It ain’t up to me. You want to try to talk Mack out of it, good luck, Brother. I just spent ten minutes trying, and I can’t get him to budge.”
Crystal heard the door open and slam shut as Wolf stormed out.
Then she heard Cole mutter, “Christ.”
The door opened and closed again, this time quietly, and she heard Cole’s boots retreating down the hall.
Crystal slid down the wall of the closet and let the tears flow. Well, she’d be damned if they’d have to ask her to leave. If she wasn’t wanted here anymore, she was done. Her car was parked out back. She just needed to get her purse and walk out the back.
But then they’d all know. Hell, she’d be damned if she’d slink out of here like a coward with her tail between her legs. Fuck that.
Standing, she wiped her face and stepped out of the closet. Then she exited out of Cole’s room, quietly closing the door behind her and headed down the hall. She took several deep breaths and let anger stiffen her spine. She just had to get through tonight.
****
Wolf sat in the club’s meeting room at the long conference table. Mack sat at the head, lighting a cigar. He puffed on it, and then shook out the match. Pulling the cigar from his mouth he glared at Wolf through the smoke.
Wolf had just finished laying out his case, hoping to talk Mack out of this shit. But, one thing he knew about Mack. Mack was gonna do what Mack was gonna do. Hell, hadn’t Cole tried to tell him that not five minutes ago?
But Wolf had one thing going for him, Mack loved Crystal. And when it came down to it, he really didn’t want to run her off. But he’d do it, if push came to shove. Wolf had no delusions about that. When it came to hard choices, Mack never had any problem making them.
“So prove it.”